In these contentious days of partisan politics and disastrous economic debts and deficits, America looks to one man to demonstrate the leadership it takes to bring the warring factions together, to put country before party, and to compromise on ways to cut costs while raising revenues.
And that man is, of course, not Barack Obama...who is currently splish-splashing in the waters off Martha's Vineyard, and snapping at the bubbles which bloop out from his swim trunks.
No, we're talking about mega-billionaire Warren Buffet, who recently wrote an editorial stating that the "super-rich" (such as himself and his friends) have been "coddled" by the government long enough, and need to start paying their fair share. He even points out that his personal tax rate is less than that of his cleaning woman (although as we recently learned from Arnold Schwarzennegger, some cleaning women end up getting "super-rich").
To rectify this, Mr. Buffet suggests that taxes be raised on all of those "super-rich billionaires" (defined by Barack Obama as those who earn $250,000 a year, which is only 1/4th of 1% of a billion) and all of those darned people who invest in the stock market, who must be zillionaires - right? RIGHT?!
Wrong. The taxes Mr. Buffet suggests would mainly fall on the backs of small business owners. And raising the capital gains taxes would discourage investment and force struggling corporations to cut back their operations and employees.
Moreover, experts have calculated that if the government taxed all of the "super-rich" at 100%, it would barely make a dent in either our debt or deficit. While all economic activity generated by those people and their investments would come to a sudden and permanent halt.
But Warren Buffet is a man who knows a little about money - and a lot about his own money. And he clearly feels that he's getting away with fiscal murder and wants to be reined in. Mind you, he won't send the goverment (which is to say, the American people) one red cent voluntarily, but he'll do so if the law demands it.
So by all means, let's have a bipartisan effort to pass a new "Warren Buffet Tax," which is sky high and applies only to Warren Buffet. Such a bill would enjoy broad cross-party support, it would bring in a boatload of revenue and, most importantly...it would encourage Warren to keep his fat mouth shut.
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